# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CA-3(7) — Transitive Information Exchanges

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-3-7-transitive-information-exchanges
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › CA — Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `CA-3(7)`·high·Component: **Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring**

## What this control requires

> Identifies and monitors transitive information exchanges, ceasing exchanges when downstream system controls cannot be verified. This control supports the Transitive Exchange Monitor capability within the Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CA-3(7)

### In plain English

Identifies and monitors transitive information exchanges, ceasing exchanges when downstream system controls cannot be verified. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed.

This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation.

## What an auditor looks for

A 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan.

Within **Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control CA-3(7)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Policy Management

**Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.

### Operational checklist

-   **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Information.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Monitor.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **System.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Control.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, authorization, information, system, controls, exchange, information exchanges, assessment.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Transitive Information Exchanges.

## Common pitfalls

-   Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.

## How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

-   [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.312(b)** — Audit Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-312-b-audit-controls)
-   [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.13** — Labelling of information](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-13-labelling-of-information)

## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

-   [**Control CA-3** — Information Exchange](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-3-information-exchange)
-   [**Control CA-6(1)** — Joint Authorization -- Intra-Organization](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-6-1-joint-authorization-intra-organization)
-   [**Control CA-6(2)** — Joint Authorization -- Inter-Organization](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-6-2-joint-authorization-inter-organization)
-   [**Control CA-2** — Control Assessments](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-2-control-assessments)
-   [**Control CA-7(4)** — Risk Monitoring](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-7-4-risk-monitoring)
-   [**Control CA-7(5)** — Consistency Analysis](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-7-5-consistency-analysis)

## References

-   [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Control CA-3(7)`

Topics: governance riskpolicy management

## Related compliance guidance

- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs.
- [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement.
- [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.